Stay
by wirewrappedlily
Summary: It starts out with a dance he's been waiting for for a long time, just not with the partner he pictured himself with. Tony/Steve
1. Chapter 1

Captain Steve Rogers twitched at his shirt sleeves, his heart pounding in his head as he watched Bruce and Natasha dancing and laughing at each other under the golden glow of the lanterns; Thor and his Jane sitting at one of the many tables dotting the area surrounding the dancefloor; Clint and Coulson laughing together, Clint's arm protectively over Phil's shoulders as the flash bulb of an antique camera went off blindingly. The host of the event was nowhere to be seen, and it was making the guest of honour a jittery mess.

Steve didn't know how he felt about them celebrating his birthday. Nick Fury had sent Agent Hill down to wish him the customary birthday wishes, but Steve wasn't about to put it past Tony to put his actual age on the cake, and he really didn't want to think about being alone and cold and abandoned in that mound of snow for longer than he'd been alive.

And it wasn't just that: Steve Rogers didn't want to dance; he didn't want to get near that dancefloor, because there was exactly one person in the world he would've been willing to make a fool of himself for, and, as much as Tony actually reminded him of her, Steve couldn't take the mocking look in those black eyes right now, this was pushing him to the limit.

Some light guitar started up, tentative and acoustic and a soulful set of vocals brought a wordless note to the dim light of the room, calling Steve almost to his past, but not quite. Violins started stealthily as a hand touched his arm, Tony's eyes glittering with everything but a taunt. "You not dancing?"

"I-I don't know how…" Steve mumbled, ducking his head as if that were something to be ashamed of. He knew to Tony it wasn't, but still, he felt like he should be ashamed of existing some times. Tony took the drink from his hand-a useless thing for Steve, sure, but he was making the effort-and Tony's hand folded around his.

"Well, I don't know about anyone else here, but I think it's time you learned." Steve's other hand fell to Tony's bicep, and Tony smiled at him impishly, swaying out to the dancefloor with the slow rumblings of the violins and the soft sound of piano, punctuation for the statement the guitar made and the voice just soared around. Steve looked from where his hand was clasped over Tony's arm into Tony's eyes, getting completely lost for a few steps. "Relax, Steve. I don't think anyone would dare to tease you tonight." Steve's brows drew together, and Tony reached up with their clasped hands, running one long, too-clever finger over the line forming between them. "No, no one would dare breathe a word. Under threat of dismemberment or medical experimentation." Tony smiled, and Steve was shell-shocked to find himself being twirled out and brought back into Tony's embrace, "You're too precious to us...to me...and this night is about celebrating you and how far you've come, Cap."

"Pr-Precious?"

Tony sighed, shrugging slightly, "You tell anyone outside this room that I can be romantic, and I'll...find some way to make you pay for it...but, I care about you, Cap. I've had a crush on you since you were a story my dad used to tell me before I went to sleep at night...and seeing you; seeing you in action, seeing you haunting the halls when you can't sleep, seeing you smile every so often when no one else is looking...it's kind of brought you to the highest point there's ever been on the list of things important to Tony Stark. I won't say I'm in love, but that's only because you could hurt me with it-"

"Tony-"

"Look, I know that...this...this is frowned upon and disgusting in that old-fashioned little head of yours...but I've been hiding it for so long that, when you made me fall for you face-to-face, I wanted to kill you for it. So I'm telling you the bare-assed truth of it, and you can do whatever you want to do with this information, just so long as you know what I've needed you to know since you nearly died to save my life in that helicarrier engine."

Tony was done talking, but it would've been a cut off if he'd had anything more to say. Cap was kissing him. Captain Steve Rogers; Captain America...was kissing him…

Tony could hear Natasha murmur something snide to Clint, and he flipped them off behind Steve's back, kissing back softly and slowly, opening his eyes to star-spangled baby blues. "I take it...that you like me back."

Steve wouldn't and couldn't tell Tony the reasons for that. Wouldn't broach the fact that Tony was the only person that had any kind of a link to the time he'd come from. That Tony gave him the passion; the fire that he needed to herd these super-powered kittens into some semblance of a cohesive team. Tony's stunt with the nuke had almost killed Steve Rogers, even as Captain America had ordered the portal closed. He couldn't tell Tony these things because he knew that Tony wouldn't believe he was the best thing to happen to Captain America or Steve Rogers. He wouldn't tell Tony because, really, Tony didn't need to know; he made Steve a better man just by existing, and he didn't need to try to make Steve want to be everything Tony expected him to be. He didn't need to try to make Steve want Tony to actually, honestly smile at him.

Tony was his; and he'd be Tony's for as long as the playboy wanted him.

"Whatever would've given you that idea, Stark?" Steve teased breathlessly, a grin tugging up one corner of his mouth before it was pressed against Tony's again.

Someone wolf whistled, and Cap turned a sinful shade of pink, breaking the kiss gently, "You know, I don't know if I still quite believe it…"

"I should spend more time convincing you." Steve told him easily, snorting as Tony laughed.

Thor brought Jane a little trepidatiously out onto the floor, colour flooding her cheeks as he lifted her up, slipping his feet under hers and setting her weight down.

Steve pressed closer to Tony, relaxing into the graceful motions between them. "When they pulled you out of the ice...when they found you were still alive, after so long, I was the person they called. Did you know that?" Steve's eyes widened a little, his head shaking slowly, "You called me Howard when you first woke up...You went right back under, but...it confirmed it for me. That you were who they thought you might be. I would've been there the second time you came-to, but SHIELD called me out on something else. Apparently, Coulson took that opportunity to come in and watch you sleeping," Steve snorted his laughter, glancing over his shoulder at Clint and Phil in deep conversation, Hawkeye making the SHIELD agent handling him laugh to the point of tears, "which was probably an improvement, because you might've woken up to a strange man holding your hand had they let me stay."

Steve looked down as if appraising Tony, "I might not have minded, seeing you in the uniform or a lab coat."

"You would've tossed me through the side of SHIELD's set."

Steve chuckled, "Probably. But it might've taken me a moment longer. And something tells me that you wouldn't have let them build that little lie."

Tony looked over his shoulder, into the distance, his jaw working, "I nearly tore Fury a new one for that stunt when I found out, actually. You're a war hero, they shouldn't've treated you like you weren't."

Steve gave him an appreciative little squeeze, smiling at him warmly. "Thank you."

"Yeah, well, you're important to me, Cap."

Steve looked at him with a question in his eyes, and Tony had known this was coming, "You said...that I was your crush when you were little...did Howard really talk about me like that?"

Tony shook his head, "He never shut up about you. By the time I convinced myself that I didn't want you to be my best friend and the angel on my shoulder, you were someone to beat for the light in his eyes. He liked you more than me." Tony shrugged, but Steve was tense, his eyes blazing at that last.

"Tony-"

"Let's not talk about my dad, okay? I want to have this night with Steve Rogers, not Howard Stark. His ghost doesn't need to be here."

Steve's breath caught, "I feel like that sometimes, you know…Like a ghost-"

Tony pressed his lips to the corner of Steve's mouth, "Angel, I'd say. No one human is as innocent and perfect as you. You used to be my imaginary friend, Steve. It's weird to actually know the person who's been with you your whole life as a trick of the head for a little kid not to feel alone." Steve had never looked more like the world was on his shoulders, but he'd also never looked prouder of the weight that was his to bear.

"I'm not as innocent and perfect as you take me for, Tony, but you won't have to be alone anymore. I promise you that." Tony smiled at him, bringing him in for a soft kiss that felt almost like a reward, more than any medal Steve had ever gotten.

"Maybe you're not as innocent, but you're completely perfect, and it kills me." Tony shook his head, but kept holding Steve, so Steve was maybe okay with Tony Stark feeling less than he was, this time. "You're actually not bad at this, Rogers." Tony chuckled, signalling their sway.

"I have a good teacher."

Tony shook his head, his hand disengaging from Steve's to rest on that diamond-strong jaw, capturing his lips shortly. "I quite like that I'm allowed to do that." Tony whispered conspiratorially.

"I quite like that I'm allowed to let you do that." Steve told him in dead seriousness, and Tony's eyes filled with just a little sadness. "Don't get me wrong...I woulda married Peggy if she'd've had me, and I would've loved her for all our lives. I wasn't gay...I don't think I am now, either, really. Just...it's not the skin a person's wearing," Steve's eyes fell to the circle glowing dimly beneath Tony's tux, "it's the heart underneath."

* * *

**DJC/wirewrappedlily here: just wanted to let anyone who knows me lurking out there know that I'm here now for the fics, and I'm not on my dA anymore. **

**Anywho, this has the potential to be multi-chapter (next, hopefully, I'll get into Tony's head), but I'm feeling flighty, so no promises.  
**

**Also, this could end up being M later on, I don't know. I'll change the rating if it needs changing.  
**

**Later, lovelies.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

"Sir, Captain Rogers appears to have fallen out of his bed-" JARVIS didn't even really finish the sentence before Tony was tripping over himself and the equipment to get out to the door of Steve's guest room.

Once there, brain kicking on fully from the state of completely lost he'd been in, though, Tony didn't know whether or not to knock.

The door slid open before he could, and Tony was met with the sight of a frightened, half-crazed Steve, half-crouched at the other end of the room, hands outstretched and shaking slightly with terror in his eyes, "Steve? Steve, you're in Stark Tower; you're safe." Tony said calmly, dodging the alarm clock flung at him in self-defence from a mind still half-trapped in the night-terrors he'd been having. "Relax, you know me." Tony soothed, daring small inches closer and closer before he could take Steve's SHIELD-issued cell phone from the death grip it was protesting under, Steve's body rising up in protest before the blue eyes cleared, and Steve slumped down to the floor fully, his face scrunching up in tears. Tony collapsed with him, pulling Steve's head against his shoulder, "O-okay, you're okay." Tony wasn't exactly known for his abilities to comfort the crying. Then again, he also wasn't exactly known for his ability to woo a supersoldier, so maybe it was Steve just bringing out the best in him.

Steve's arms closed around him shakily, too loose to really be a hug, but too desperate for Tony to think of anything but holding the shaking superhero. Tony's fingers curled in the short hair at the back of Steve's head, holding him fiercely, as if there was something real to protect him against besides his own mind; his own memories.

Carefully, Tony half-lifted Steve, keeping him steady and propelling him along beside him, sitting him down on the bed and pulling him into his arms securely, tucking his head under Tony's chin, rocking him gently back and forth. Tony started running his fingers through Steve's hair, "I've got you, Steve, you're safe." He was shivering so hard that Tony was worried he'd shake apart. Steve whined, curling up against Tony's side, "You're safe with me." Tony murmured: words he'd honestly never really meant like he meant them now.

"Cold-" Was the only word Steve managed before Tony was scooping his arm under Steve's legs, using strength he'd never thought he'd have to lay the supersoldier out over the bed, enfolding him in his arms as he laid down beside him, pressed as close as possible in as many places as possible. Steve's grip on him tightened, and Tony grunted as he was suddenly flattened against Steve's muscular form, one large, unsteady hand on his back. Steve turned his face into Tony's neck, and Tony realized that this was probably the closest he'd been to someone since he'd been frozen.

It made Tony hold on to him tighter; made him curse out anything he could think of; made him press his lips to Steve's forehead and close his eyes. "I'll warm you up, Steve, just relax."

"K-Keep talking to me?"

Tony had never been more at a loss for words in his life, but he picked up his leaden tongue and made it gold again, "During the war, a secret operation known as the SSR was scouting for the best candidate for a very special, top-secret program. A brilliant scientist named Abraham Erskine had created a serum to elevate a man's potential, and had enlisted Howard Stark as help to make the transformation of a man into a superman.

"Howard didn't get the pleasure of meeting their first test subject until it was time to light that candle. His exact words, ten years later, to describe meeting the bravest man he'd ever met were 'if he'd been any thinner and any more transparent, we would have been able to see his internal organs like a guppy.'" Tony snickered and Steve smiled, his eyes closed and his breathing catching in a silent chuckle against Tony's chest.

"I'd ask you to skip all the bad parts-"

Tony kissed Steve's lips to quiet him again, "The bad parts are what got us here." Tony whispered, thinking of his own bad parts. Tony took a deep breath and began the narrative again, "The experiment produced the most amazing man any of them had ever seen. Fast, strong, determined…good. Above all else, he was a good man…" Steve was calm against his side now, the shivers gone even when Tony ran his hand over Steve's bare arm. "But a German spy had been witness to the experiment, and the spy killed Dr. Erskine, and the knowledge of how to create that formula with him. An American hero was born as the man chased after the spy; a star-centred taxi cab door was used as a shield against the spy's bullets, and it became an iconic image of the war…" Tony ran his hand down Steve's back, kissing his golden hair, "But the men behind the experiment; the government that had created this perfect man, wanted to confine perfection, to take it into a lab so that the formula could be found again…" Steve squirmed a little, and Tony rubbed soothingly at the back of Steve's neck, "but there was another official; a senator, who gave him the chance to live up to the potential he'd been given. It...wasn't exactly the way Captain America wanted to be bourn into the world, but it was the way it had to be.

"It took a long time...but Captain America finally had his chance to shine: His best friend had been captured by the Nazis, and the Captain would have risked everything to get him back. The Cap had made a good friend: An agent named Peggy Carter asked Howard Stark for a favour; to fly the plane that could be delivering Captain America to his death. Even if it risked everything for Howard, he would've said yes, he believed in the kid that much." Steve pulled himself up a little, kissing at the corner of Tony's mouth to stop the story.

Tony looked up at Steve as he lowered himself to rest against Tony's chest, not letting his full weight press down, but letting them press together as he kissed Tony full on the mouth. He chuckled darkly at the dry rasp of Tony's beard against his clean-shaven skin, pulling off of his mouth and resting into a hug. "I don't want to hear this story."

Tony's arms rubbed up the firm, muscular back, "It's not the story you think it is." Steve looked at him in the eyes, studying the playful glint of amusement, "Do you still want me to stop?" Steve looked down, biting his lip as he shook his head. Tony groaned gently, sucking Steve's lip from his care into Tony's, "Mmm...where was I? Yeah, right, the plane. ...Howard, Peggy, and Captain America snuck off in the dead of night, taking Howard's private plane and crossing enemy lines. Howard was the best civilian pilot that they had, and he was insane enough to do what they needed him to." Steve began to idly play with his hand, and Tony was almost completely distracted as Steve traced the rough patches of his hand. "That tickles." Tony laughed, and Steve hummed an apology, distractedly playing with Tony's hand again. "Howard didn't get to see the man that would become a good friend to him jump out of an airplane, but he was insanely worried when his friend never called for his pick-up. Between the time he'd flown over that dangerous terrain and the time Captain America had come back, Howard had talked Peggy out of several panic attacks, and had met the love of his life, Maria, in a trip to medical for a cut to his arm."

"A cut?" Steve asked, tracing one finger in a line over Tony's arm.

"One of the bullets grazed him while he was flying Peggy back to the base." Steve stiffened and sat up, looking down and around at the billionaire. "He was okay. He actually would've thanked you." Steve scowled a little, laying down with his chin resting against Tony's chest, looking up at him with expectant eyes.

"He shouldn't be thanking me. I think I got the real prize out of the deal." Tony threw his head back and laughed, eyes shut and a full, real grin broken out over his features. "Now, I wanna hear the rest of the story."

Tony accepted him back into his arms, rubbing his back and pressing his lips to Steve's forehead. "Maria and Howard were fast friends, and fast becoming more than that to each other. Captain America came back from his first mission, and Howard was relieved that the kid from Brooklyn who'd already meant so much to them all was safe once more. He was so happy, in fact, that Howard constructed a shield for the young man out of the rarest metal in the world, one that would be bullet proof; both a weapon and a protector from all that he'd face." Steve was idly playing with his shirt sleeve, a little more bored with this part of the story, and the good storyteller in Tony knew he had to sweeten the pot here. "The young Captain fought with more goodness and bravery than any man that the world had ever seen before, and Howard and the Captain became friends. But there came a time when the Captain had to make the ultimate sacrifice to save his country and the free world from a madman...and he did what he had to. Howard became obsessed for years, trying to find him. One day, Peggy came to him, and asked him, for the good of himself and his family, to stop looking so hard, before he lost everything that the Captain had fought for him to be able to keep. Howard soon married Maria, who had been with him through it all...but he would never trust anyone again; would never get close, for fear that being close to anyone would end up in loss and pain. A few years later, Maria had a child. Anthony Stark was quickly discovered as a child prodigy. He was smarter than everyone else; more determined; more ill-tempered...and more alone. Even the worst of beatings didn't hurt as much as the solitary birthdays when fifty other children had been invited; his father too busy to care, and his mother too alone to notice her son's own loneliness.

"The Captain became a bedtime story, and then an imaginary friend. Because of the Captain, the young Stark found out when and how to pick a fight; how to be strong and brave; and how to be good. Always good. Because then he could have friends like the Captain had. Friends that would fight for him; die for him; go mad if he was lost…" Tony's chest felt tight, but his throat was thankfully free. Steve was tense as Hawkeye's drawn bow, his breathing stuttering, and Tony realized he'd never told anyone this. Not even JARVIS, "but the little boy's only friend came from his mind. And for a long time, the mirage of a star-spangled man was all that he needed. Then, as he grew, he began to make friends...robotic creations that would talk to him; tell him stories; make him laugh...But, as much as he wanted it to make his father proud, nothing seemed to break the wall between them." Steve's arms were holding on tight to Tony, unwittingly keeping him in the moment, and Tony was thankful for that. "By fifteen, the boy was attending the most prestigeous technological school in the world; and by nineteen, he'd gotten two doctorates, graduating…But Howard and Maria never got to see enough of his life to ever find any saving grace to the party animal that had fallen out of the light of the Captain's imaginary friendship...they never got to see him beyond the successful failure he was making of himself...They died when he was twenty-one, leaving him really, hopelessly alone in the world…"

"Skip this part." Steve whispered roughly, his voice strained with emotion, "Tell me how that boy became a superhero; became a man to look up to by everyone. Tell me how he saved his imaginary friend's life...how he beat a god...tell me...tell me how he's not alone anymore. How he won't ever be alone anymore."

Tony held on to Steve tighter, resting his chin on the blond hair, "He's happy now...very happy. He's with someone who he's loved all his life, even when he got jealous of him, and he's safe. Safer and happier than he's ever been." Steve tucked himself down against Tony Stark's heart, listening to it beating, fighting away the thought that that heart would stop if the small white light shining like a beacon from Tony's chest ever went out. "It's Steve Rogers that deserves the happy ending, though. Not Tony Stark."

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so much to all the reviewers and everyone who's read the story. I'm completely ecstatic, thank you, guys. **

**Sorry for the kinks, but I'm still trying to work out how to use , so please bear with me.  
**


	3. Chapter 3

"We're not even sharing a room, Pepper! Steve will be sleeping across the hall; I'll still have my room here, this is just so that Steve's not alone when he has his night terrors. I may actually be doing something good for him."

The redhead shrugged, semi-nodding, "I think you might be, too."

Tony lit up just a little bit, his attention caught just after to the sight of the elevator door opening and Steve trooping in with a small cardboard box and his shield. Tony outright smiled, and Pepper signed off from the video call quickly. Tony felt a stab of guilt at that, but covered it, standing to relieve Steve of the box. The super soldier opened his mouth to protest, but Tony ignored that, "C'mon, this way…" Tony began to trail the supersoldier behind him, letting him take in the apartment level he'd taken for himself and the Captain in Stark Tower, "welcome home."

Steve reached out and grabbed the back of his shirt, pressing him against the wall and kissing him completely breathless. "Thank you." Steve murmured gently, pressing his lips to Tony's cheek chastely, "Tony, you've…"

"Shh," Tony hushed him gently, rubbing the backs of his fingers against the back of Steve's neck, "I'd give you everything, Steve. Whatever you wanted; whatever you needed. Always." Steve pressed back into his chest, kissing him hard and deep.

"Sir, your gynecologist called, she's worried that this may melt your ovaries." Steve flinched against him, pulling away with a confused look. Tony collapsed into helpless laughter, nearly sliding down the wall as his lungs started to protest lack of oxygen.

"Clint-"

"Got Dr. Banner to program me to interrupt you with something every time you and Captain Rogers are close. I'm isolating the reprogramming and disabling it, sir."

Tony wiped his eyes, trying to breathe. "Th-Thank you, JARVIS."

Tony was still laughing, shaking his head and wiping his eyes as he finished leading Steve down the hall. "I'm not sure Bruce would do something like that." Steve muttered, low so that the AI couldn't hear.

"I believe that Agent Barton bribed Dr. Banner, sir." JARVIS replied coolly, "Would you like me to call for reservations, sir?"

"No, thanks, Jarv. I'm gonna cook." Tony replied distractedly, opening Steve's room and looking around, making sure everything was in place.

"I shall inform the fire departments and emergency services." Tony scowled towards the ceiling, frowning.

"I did not program you with lip, JARVIS!"

"I believe it is a learned trait, sir. I may be your Frankenstein's monster in this respect."

Steve snorted a little, trying to fight off the smirk, "I think I'm gonna like it here."

* * *

"I like AC/DC, and I like The Queen-"

"Queen. No 'the'."

"I like Queen...and I like most of the other stuff...I'm just saying that Adele has good vocals."

"Yeah, you and Thor." Tony rolled his eyes, shaking his head with a fond smile.

Steve smiled warmly back, reaching over to rub his knuckles against the base of Tony's skull, "I still prefer your shower singing, though…"

Tony laughed, lifting up his welding mask steal a kiss. "I still can't believe JARVIS sent that to all of you."

"I loved it. And Darcy taught me how to download it." Tony's head snapped up, his eyes wide, "And, yes, I know that pirating is illegal, but it was for the greater good. It makes me laugh."

"How come I feel like my influence on you is actually quite...bad?" Tony asked, rubbing the piece he'd been welding until it shone a little clearer.

Steve snickered, leaning forwards to catch Tony's lips, "You're not a bad influence at all." Steve said, pulling Tony into his clutches and smiling at him happily. "Can we have a movie night tonight?"

"More Mel Brooks?" Steve nodded eagerly, smiling, and Tony laughed at that, kissing him.

"You two are disgusting." Clint grumbled, Bruce snickering as Tony and Steve both scowled at him. Steve rolled his eyes at them both, kissing Tony flauntingly, and sliding off the work table, headed for the training room.

"Guys, not for nothing, but last month when you put a virus in JARVIS's coding to make all our cold water hot and all the hot water cold, I walked into Steve's bathroom to find him curled up on the shower floor going through another episode of being trapped in that freezing water. Do anything like that again, and you'll be flossing with your own insides." Clint's smirk faded into a look of horror, and Bruce looked as though he half-wished that Tony had already banded out that fate.

"Jesus fuck…"

"We didn't know, Tony, I'm-"

"I get it, Cap and I are...startling. I'm still wondering what the fuck he's doing with me...but I would rather die than see him that ruined again. Either of you tell him that I told you about this, and I'll put you both on SHIELD's list of 'psychiatric care needed', under 'electroshock therapy'." Tony told them both quietly, reflectively. He got up from his swivel chair with a sigh, grabbing his water bottle and downing half the contents.

"We won't mess with JARVIS again, Tony, I swear." Bruce's voice was strained with regret and guilt, and Tony shrugged it off, shaking his head.

"I know. He's programmed to lock down completely if anyone other than me goes near any code with any real power. The uplinks in all ports are disabled unless allowed by me, fully scanned, and any threat to the integrity of the system is neutralized. True threats to the system's security are traced, and the perpetrators are marked for complete system death: complete wipeout of any and all of the electronic devices this person accesses. So, in short, don't fuck with me, gentleman, because it'll result in an unlubricated reciprocation that'll leave you shaking and scarred." Tony Stark flicked down the mask of his welding helmet, dismissing the conversation and hefted his torch, getting back to fixing up Steve's old motorcycle with no further ado.

"Sir, all signals from the training area are scrambled, but I believe it is a person knocking out the feed." JARVIS informed them all coolly, and Tony was up, running as fast as he could for the elevator to the training room with Clint and Bruce not far behind.

The doors whooshed open as Steve was thrown towards it, and Tony was slammed back by the impact, into the opposite wall, bones crushing under the force of the hit.

Bruce watched his friends slumped down, the side of Steve's face shredded by claws, and the Hulk took over, barrelling into the room, leaving Clint to figure out if their friends would be okay.

* * *

Steve was asleep, his top half lying on Tony's bedside, when Tony finally came-to. It felt like there was a gauze over the world; in Tony's mouth, over his limbs...Tony hated it. Passionately.

His leg was bulky with the cast from his hip to his toes, his every bone, broken or not, stiff and aching...but Steve was okay. The half of Steve's face that had been so terribly injured was almost healed now, and Tony found his fingers running carefully over Steve's cheekbone, thankful that Steve healed so damn fast.

Steve flinched, his eyes fluttering open as Tony touched him, and pure relief flooded those baby-blues, "Tony…"

Tony's broken hand rested against Steve's arm, and just that light little touch stopped Steve from any more movement, "D-Don't call them yet…" Tony requested, and Steve put down the call button for the nurses and doctors immediately, "what happened? ...Are you okay?"

Steve's breathing caught, tears running down his cheeks, "Tony, you've been unconscious for almost a week, and you ask if I'm okay?" Tony rubbed Steve's tears away, "I'm fine. I've just...I've been...damnit, Tony, I've been going insane." Tony hushed him, rubbing his cheek idly.

"A week, huh? And it's been a week since you slept, hasn't it?" Steve shot him a look of 'do not go there', but Tony just raised his brows, pressing it. Steve nodded, reaching up to cup his hand over Tony's, careful not to actually touch it.

"Your ribs cracked and broke when I collided into you...and then they punctured a lung when we hit the wall. Your leg broke at your hip and fibula, and your arm was crushed. The only reason why you're not dead is because you were wearing that welding mask, and it cradled the back of your head when you hit the wall-"

"You would have died, then."

"Theoretically…" Steve said after a long moment between them. "But, Tony, you're more breakable than I am…"

"Yeah, and you're more valuable." Tony insisted, wheezing and huffing as he tried to move.

Steve looked like he was about to flatten him all over again if Tony continued to try that, the billionaire slumping down in the bed at that look. "Anthony Stark, if you think for one millisecond that I am better than you-" Steve cut himself off, feeling almost sick with rage, his jaw working.

"Steve...Captain America is a symbol of hope and strength...Iron Man is a symbol of one man trying to undo the damage that he's done to the world that he's not good enough for!" Steve had never looked more enraged at him. Not even when he'd so thoroughly baited him in the helicarrier; not even when he'd done everything he could to.

"Tony...take those goddamn...take those words back NOW."

"Steve-"

"No! Tony, you...you know how much you mean to me, and to everyone! If anything happened to you, Tony, I-I'd be lost…" Steve was on his feet, his breathing ragged, "You know I would be."

Tony felt like it was getting more and more difficult to breathe; like he was being suffocated by a python. Steve's head fell, his shoulders rolling, trying to bring himself into control again.

"Tony, you're not the kind to hear this, but I don't give a damn: I'm in love with you."

Tony felt like he was dying this time. Really, more than any other time that he'd almost died, this time was the one that was going to do him in-"I love you, too."

The look that bloomed over Steve's features took every last pain away. Steve leaned down, ghosting his lips over Tony's, a tear falling from his eye down to Tony's battered face.

"What happens when I fuck this up?" Tony asked through almost-unmoving lips, and Steve pulled back a little.

"I'm a hard-headed bastard, Stark. You're not getting rid of me."

Tears took over Tony Stark, and he let Steve call the doctors at last.

He didn't let Steve's hand leave his, though; snapped at the imbecilic doctors until Bruce herded them all out, shooting an amused look at the supersoldier before he checked out everything he could about Tony's situation. "I think you need to get his head checked out, Banner. He claims to love me." Tony deadpanned, smiling at Steve sweetly.

Steve scowled, and Bruce beamed, "'Bout time you two put your cards on the table. No sex until Tony's chest is healed at the very least, though."

"Not for the approximate date of when I'll be medically permitted to have sex, do you have a date for that, Doc?"

"Well, Fury's calling in a favour with someone he won't really tell us about. Supposedly, this guy has the power to heal you."

Steve looked up to Bruce, a little concerned. "Heal him?"

"Dr. Strange is...well, he's a sorcerer."

"He'll help, though?"

"Yeah, he will."

Steve relaxed, sitting down with Tony's hand between his, gentle and barely-there, "Anything if Tony gets better sooner."

Bruce's breathing stuttered slightly, and he ducked out of the room after giving Tony a dose of pain killers. "Steve, you should go home and get some rest." Steve shook his head before Tony had gotten past his name. "You're dead on your feet, and you need sleep in order to heal."

"And what happens when I have a night terror while you're not there to love it out of me?" Steve asked quietly, one blond eyebrow quirked. "What happens when my dreams are of not getting you here in...in t-time…" Steve swallowed, and Tony took Steve's cheek into his palm, looking into those perfect blue eyes.

For a long, long moment, Tony read Steve's eyes, getting more information from them than Natasha could ever hope to read. "Get Banner back in here, I wanna talk to him about moving me back to the tower." Steve opened his mouth to protest, his eyes saucer-wide, "Hey-you refuse to take care of yourself without me with you; I don't feel like I can rest here, it's a win-win if I come home."

"Tony…"

"I'll stay in bed; I'll even let them set up a sling thingy on the side of the bed for my leg. Just let me come home." Steve nodded quickly, leaning over to kiss an un-bruised section of Tony's forehead, taking his hand quickly and releasing just as fast, a squeeze compared to his touches before, and it made Tony want to laugh at how delicately Steve was treating him.

"You will stay in bed, and you'll heal as fast as you can, or I'll _make you_." Tony, broken and bruised on the hospital bed, smiled devilishly at him, raising his hand in salute.

"Sir, yes, sir."

* * *

**A/N: Thank you all again for the awesome reviews, I'm so happy to hear from you guys. **


	4. Chapter 4

Steve wheeled Tony carefully into his penthouse, easily navigating the hall with the gurney they had Tony strapped to. "I really don't think this is necessary. I could sit up. I could be in a wheelchair…" Tony frowned even deeper at the concept of a wheelchair.

"It's not getting up sitting up that would be the problem, it's getting you laying back down." Steve told him easily, putting on the brakes so that the gurney wouldn't move. Thor came in carrying Steve's bag from the hospital, dropping it near the door in favour of helping the supersoldier move his boyfriend.

"I don't think I fully believe you that you'll stay in bed." Jane told him worriedly, taking Thor's hand as Tony breathed through the pain of being moved and Steve tried to soothe him vainly.

"So little faith in me! First Steve, then Bruce, now Jane-what's next, Loki comes down from on high and nags me about sitting still, too?"

"No, next I'm going to order JARVIS to tell me the millisecond you move. Blaringly."

"It shall sound like a bomb raid in London if he so much as wriggles, sir." The AI supplied, and Captain America smiled.

"Traitor!"

"I am here for the good of yourself and mankind, sir. Captain Rogers has your best interests at heart."

"And don't you forget it." Steve threatened, shooting Tony a meaningful look.

Tony wrapped his fingers around Steve's, tugging just slightly-a tug to him, more of a flinch to anyone else-and Steve knelt down beside the bed, almost at eye-level with Tony, "You need to go and get ready for bed. You look worse than I feel." Tony smiled at him cheekily, and Steve rolled his eyes at the dig.

"You're comfortable? You don't need anything?"

"I don't think I'll be comfortable for a while, but given the circumstances, I'm good. And all I need is for you to not look like the leading zombie in an undead romantic comedy."

Banner smiled, "That may be the painkillers talking now."

"NO, THE CAPTAIN IS PHYSICALLY PLEASING TO THE EYE, YET WITH HIS FATIGUE, HE ALSO APPEARS DEAD ON HIS FEET." Thor boomed, smiling at Tony even as he winced from caffeine-deprived hangover. Jane sent him an apologetic look, squeezing Thor's hand. "IS THAT NOT WHAT A ZOMBIE IS?"

"That is exactly what a zombie is, big guy." Tony told him indulgently, yawning, "And it's the drugs talking that I'm not making a crack about Steve being physically pleasing to the eye."

Steve chuckled, leaning down to kiss Tony again, "Get some rest."

Tony obediently closed his eyes, relaxing as much as he could and trying to sleep when he couldn't roll onto his side. It didn't take long before Tony was gone to the world, snoring softly through his nose and his mouth gently open.

"Aw, ain't 'e sweet?" Clint mocked acerbically, and everyone from Steve by Tony's bed to Natasha down the hall gave him the deadliest of disapproving looks.

"I can't believe we're all moving in together. Is Tony really okay with this?" Bruce asked as Steve led them away from Tony's room.

"It was his idea, Bruce. He wanted to make sure we all stayed safe." Steve muttered, glancing from his watch to a digital readout of the time three times over the course of a minute.

"Steve, relax. I've had JARVIS upload a reminder to sound when it's time for Tony to take his pills and to get more pain meds." Natasha told him almost-gently, placing her hands over his arms, "We're here to help you and Tony just as much as we are to keep each other safe.

Steve mustered up a smile, shaking his head, "He's out of commission and I feel like I'm going to lose my mind…" Steve breathed.

Natasha's demeanour shifted fluidly, her voice calming and reassuring, as if she were talking someone off a ledge, "He's strong, and he's determined. He'll pull through this; you just need to have faith." Steve nodded slowly, and Natasha nodded back with more conviction than he had. "Go clean yourself up and get some rest. You deserve it." Steve nodded again, shuffling off as if he didn't quite know which way he was going.

"Scale of one to Loki-invasion, how worried should we be?" Clint asked Natasha as she rejoined the others.

"Very."

* * *

Agent Phil Coulson was waiting for Clint as he came down from Stark Tower, standing in the lobby of the sky-scraper in jeans and a polo Clint himself had bought him. "He's stable, and he's got Steve taking care of him, and Bruce and Natasha taking care of Steve," Clint told him, his expression breaking into a smirk, "But you're not here to talk about Tony."

"No, and I'd rather not talk about what I have to talk about now." Clint shot him a confused look, one eyebrow raised, "The...thing that attacked Steve and Tony is a bio-mechanical monster with a very clear signature."

"We've got a new big-bad, and Iron Man is down for the count, and Captain America is too distracted to be of much use. Fuck."

Coulson nodded darkly, Clint and he falling into step as they exited the building and climbed into Coulson's black SUV with tinted windows. "You know, I haven't seen you in anything besides the suit in two years." Coulson shot him a look, sliding his glasses up to rest on his head. Clint laughed, shaking his head, "Besides...that."

Coulson shook his head at the special agent, pulling away from Stark Tower, "So, feel like indulging me with golf, or will you try to kill me with the nine-iron again?"

"You really wanna risk that?"

Pepper watched Clint and Coulson go, sitting in the lobby, happy that she didn't have to try to hide right now.

"You know, they're not completely disgusting the entire time that they're together. Steve would probably confine himself to the other side of the room with you there, actually." Bruce Banner was a sneaky bastard for the completely unsubtle Hulk lurking within. "Sorry." Bruce smiled, and Pepper forced herself to relax.

"I-it's not that. I'm just...the way I ended it with Tony, I just don't want to...I don't want to taint what they have right now."

Bruce looked at her oddly, "You wouldn't taint it." Bruce told her, rolling his shoulders, "Pepper, you're the one that knows him best."

Pepper hung her head, her red hair falling down over her shoulders, "I don't, though, Bruce…I don't really know him. I thought I did...maybe I did, back when he was Tony Stark, playboy and arms dealing bastard, but...after Tony turned into Iron Man, it just...he wasn't the Tony I stuck around for. He was fulfilling all this potential that I'd seen in him, but it's all so dangerous, and he just...I think I liked it more when it was just potential. It was safer when I knew that he'd never do something like this. Steve...he never got to see Tony without the smirk and the supersuit and the bravado. All Steve's ever known is Tony with the superman underneath...not Tony the man-It doesn't even make sense, does it?"

Bruce's kind eyes looked at the strawberry blond for a long time, a small smile tugging at his lips, "You worry about him. You're probably one of the only people ever to have worried about him before. Like this, at least. Steve...understands the man that Tony sees himself to be. He gets that Tony wasn't always like this, and he gets that the lesser of the two is what Tony thinks he still is."

"Tony will always feel that way, though. No one will tell him or treat him any differently, and he's too arrogant to stop treating himself like the enemy, too."

Bruce placed a hand over Pepper's, looking her in the eye, "I know what it is to have this...monster in you, that you and everyone else hates. But...what Tony brought out from the monster; what he did with the others...it's made me wonder if, maybe, it's not a matter of the monster overruling the man. Maybe the monster is a man, always has been, and he just needs the right people to bring that out in him." Bruce shrugged, taking Pepper's hand and helping her up, offering her his arm as he walked her to the elevator. "It's not coincidence that I'm down here, either. JARVIS probably would have been singing for joy at your arrival if Tony wouldn't've reprogrammed him for it."

Pepper stepped out into the Stark-Rogers level of the Avengers sections, smiling as they caught the back end of Steve getting browbeaten by Natasha into using Tony's room with him. Steve smiled appreciatively before he caught sight of the pair stepping out of the elevator, and Pepper acutely regretted letting Bruce bring her up, if only for the fact that Captain Steve Rogers had never looked more like the living dead in his life, and now he was trying to rally himself because he'd seen her.

"Hello, Ms. Potts." Steve said, nervous and kind and unerringly polite.

"Please; Pepper. Good to see you, Cap."

Pepper flashed a winning smile, shaking Captain America's hand and nodding at him respectfully, "And you. Um...Tony's asleep right now, I'm afraid, but-"

"That's alright, Cap. And, if I may? You should get some rest as well. Bruce and Natasha will take care of me, or I can come back later."

"I look that bad, huh?" Steve asked, the façade of unshakable politeness giving a little with a grin, "Alright, I'm won over. Of course, feel free to...whatever it is that you guys would do...yeah, bye." Steve blushed, flustered.

"Sleep well, Cap."

Pepper had to admit, that smile was every bit as wonderful as Tony's: angelic in Steve where the devil ruled Tony's, but perfect nonetheless, "Thanks, Pepper."

Natasha smiled slightly, coming around Bruce, "Good to see you again, Agent Romanoff."

"I'm still Natasha, Pepper." Pepper mustered a smile, trailing Bruce and Natasha into the apartment.

"Looks good…" Pepper's voice was tinged with just a little wonder at the slight vintage twist Tony had taken in the interior decorating.

"He wanted it to feel like home for him." Bruce told her gently, and Pepper felt her throat constrict just a little. "Tony's been educating Steve on the merits of mullet rock, and Steve's learned how to use the microwave and the water filtration system attached to the fridge. They work well together."

Pepper smiled, feeling awkward and out of place. "Excuse me." Natasha murmured, nodding to them both. Pepper listened carefully as Natasha walked down the hall, "Steve Rogers, get in Tony's room. He needs you just as much as you need him."

"But P-"

"Go."

Pepper dropped her gaze to the floor, her lower lip disappearing between her teeth, "Bruce-"

"Do you still love him?" Bruce tilted his head just slightly, and Pepper had never found an expression like that quite so disarming.

"N-No...No, I don't." Pepper looked down, but she still couldn't stop telling him the truth.

Bruce nodded once, "Well, c'mon, we both need to get through some nasty break-ups."

"I'll get the tequila." Natasha said, making Pepper leap out of her skin in shock at how close she'd come so silently.

"Truth or dare, or watching horrible, artsy movies?"

Natasha made a gagging sound, shuddering. "Truth or dare."

"Well, this'll be fun."

"Nothing illegal."

"And no waking up the boys. They deserve a sleep."

Bruce smiled at Pepper, leading her into the living room. "JARVIS, sound-proof Tony's room."

"Yes, sir."

"And keep the black-out blinds closed until Steve wakes up." Natasha muttered, setting them up with shots, salt, and lime wedges. "Truth."

"Last person who broke your heart?"

"Mmm, you'd have to love for your heart to get broken."

"You can't tell me you haven't loved!" Bruce insisted, "I refuse to believe that you haven't loved."

"There was a guy...once...in Budapest. He ended up being gay."

Pepper shook her head, taking her second shot, "I know that hurt."

Natasha grunted, and they clinked shots in cheers, "Alright, Bruce, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"What's one thing that makes you angry?"

"Needless stupidity." Bruce said easily, taking another shot.

"Dare." Pepper said, shrugging when Natasha shot her a look. "What? You two are boring. You're forgetting I've done this with Tony."

* * *

Steve was walking backwards as Tony slowly hobbled forwards on the physio-therapy support beams. "This is amazing. Thank you, Doctor." Steve smiled brightly at Dr. Strange, reaching out to take Tony's hands.

"He's healing quite well." The sorcerer remarked, nodding at Steve.

"St-Steve!" Tony wobbled on the support bars, and Steve caught him quickly before he could fully fall, levering him back up, "This is...so embarrassing. I can't even walk without my boy-" Tony cut off as Steve looked at him sharply.

"We've talked about this, Stark." The Captain growled, eyes narrowing, "You're not weak because you need help; you're strong for accepting it."

Tony's mouth twisted, and Steve huffed a sigh, rolling his eyes.

"The voice in your head that's Howard? He needs to eat his words." Steve told Tony in a gentle voice, helping him to sit down and handing him a water bottle, kneeling down in front of him to work on Tony's leg, his hands firm and sure over the shaking muscles. "How's your chest feeling?"

"I think I'm babying it still, but it's all healed up."

Steve nodded, one hand resting against Tony's lower ribs anyway. "Thank you, Strange. You're a miracle worker."

Steve took his hand away from Tony's chest, moving it back to working Tony's leg and making sure that his muscles were okay with the advanced healing they'd gone through. Tony watched Steve as he got completely lost in working Tony's leg and massaging the aches out of him, a furrow between his brows that Tony finally allowed himself to smooth out with the tip of his finger, "Hey, Cap, you should try to relax. I'm not the only one that needs you." Tony told him softly, trying to make the situation a little bit lighter, even if it'd cost him.

Steve leaned up, kissing Tony's lips softly and resting their foreheads together, "Right now, you're my priorities list. Nothing else there."

Tony shook his head slightly, "I don't want to be your only concern, Steve. There's a whole world out there that needs you, that deserve you, and it'll make me feel even more like I don't deserve you if you stay here with me and I'm selfish with you. Which is why I'm sending you out tonight. Pepper has some Stark Industries stuff for me to look over anyway, and it'll be boring as hell for me, so I don't even wanna think about what it'd be like for you. You should go out tonight, you're a superhero: you need to run and jump and be free."

Steve sighed, looking into Tony's eyes, "What if I don't want to?"

Tony rubbed his thumb over Steve's jaw, "I won't force you. But I think that there are other people that need your attention more than I do right now. As hard as that is to believe."

Steve smiled at Tony's grin, shaking his head, "There's no one out there that needs me like you do, Tony. There's no one that loves me like you do." Steve pressed a firm kiss to Tony's mouth, "And I need you, too. I love you, too."

* * *

**A/N: Once again, thank you all so much for all the wonderful reviews and stuff. I'm sorry this wasn't as fast as the last few updates, I'm on a vacation right now and had a sudden influx of shit to do. Hope you all enjoyed, and I hope to be getting out updates a little faster, but no promises. **

**TTFN **


	5. Chapter 5

Tony woke to the sound of Steve's near-shout, his eyes bursting open as Steve burst upright, and his hand flew out to Steve's panting chest before anything else registered, pulling Steve into the circle of his arms, back down against his chest, "You're okay."

Steve was shaking like a leaf, his hands bruisingly desperate, clutching Tony closer and hiding his face into his chest. Tony's hand fluttered down, resting against Steve's blond hair softly as he held on.

"You're safe." It wasn't working this time. Steve was trapped somewhere under all that ice, and Tony couldn't pull him out like this. "Steve...Steve! You're safe. You're with me. Just breathe."

Steve held him tighter for a moment, and Tony was almost worried his ribs would break again before Steve released him. "T-Tony?"

"Hello, bright eyes."

"Tony-did I hurt y-"

"Steve, Steve, calm down." Tony soothed, easing him back to laying down, trying to get his taught muscles relaxed. "Just relax, I'm fine. We both are." Tony started petting gently through his hair, and Steve sighed against his chest. "I remember this, Steve; I remember the nightmares...When I first got back from Afghanistan, I didn't sleep for almost a month before I got my head on right again."

"How did you…?"

"I just...let it go. If it was all a dream, my being saved, then it was the last dream I was ever going to have, and I wasn't going to relish losing it, but I wasn't going to hold on too tightly and have it slip through my fingers, either." Tony's arms tightened around Steve's shoulders, "And I had some imaginary help…" Tony whispered, rubbing his thumb along the curves of Steve's bicep. "I'd put it behind me for the longest time, your story. I didn't wanna think about it because it just...reminded me of how disappointing I was to the old man. I wasn't you. -No, stop it, now. Hush. You're hearing this, Steve Rogers." Tony's voice was more stern than he ever would've given himself credit for. "I started collecting things...memorabilia. Peggy had kept your sketch book and a few other things. I went to see her about a month before she died, and she gave me a pile of stuff that didn't really matter to anyone but her and me." Tony touched the back of Steve's neck, and they climbed out of bed, Steve half-carrying Tony as he slowly inched along, clinging to Steve's shoulders. "I sat with her for those last few weeks as much as I could. She wanted me to tell her the stories my dad used to tell me. This was after Iron Man had been really created, of course; I disappeared as much as I could from the public eye, and where better to do that than England countryside?" Tony shook his head as he clicked in a passcode to a half-hidden key pad in his closet.

Steve watched in awe as the neat lines of suits shrank and folded on themselves, opening to another room. It felt like something from those spy movies Tony had made him watch. Steve's small intake of wondered breath stopped altogether as he saw the room slowly light up each item before them. A bullet-ridden cab door with a red star painted in the centre; the shield he'd used to rescue Bucky from Hydra; a picture of his anorexically-skinny self shaking hands with Dr. Erskine before the experiment...Tony had accumulated a roadmap of all the moments that had mattered. "How…?"

"It took a while, but it was actually not that difficult once I figured out how and where to look. The cab door and the shield were in an old collector's cabin in Canada, and the pictures were in a SHIELD-owned warehouse in Minsk. Peggy managed to keep most of your personal effects. This is what helped keep me a little bit sane." Tony seemed to be reaching for his words just as much as Steve seemed incapable of any of them, surrounded by things from another lifetime. "I know it ranks up there on the creepy-scale probably more than Coulson ever could have dreamed, but-mmmuph!" Tony stumbled under Steve's sudden attack, lips very happily busy. Steve picked him up, carrying him back to bed with a single-mindedness that made Tony feel a little lost. Steve set Tony down on the bed, taking his lips over and over again, pulling away only to stare into Tony's eyes with a dark gaze of his own. "So you're not-mmm." Tony hummed as Steve kissed him again, pushing him back against the bed, "You're not gonna-" Tony gave up on trying to speak altogether in light of Steve's tongue slipping brazenly into his mouth. "Mmm, okay, Steve-"

"Stop talking." Steve ordered, his weight suspended on his arm so that he could kiss Tony without pressing against his chest.

"But, Steve-" Tony pushed against Steve's chest, making him break off from yet another smothering, wonderful kiss, "Steve, we haven't exactly talked about this…"

"I've had enough of talking about it. And thinking about it. And dreaming about it, Tony! I'm ready, I love you, you love me, and I think we've both earned this at this point."

"Steve, you've earned better than this for your first time!" Tony insisted as Steve went to kiss him again.

It was all kind of a rush, but Tony found himself straddling Steve's chest with the supersoldier trapped against the bed in the next moment, and Tony felt a small flash of pride that refused to acknowledge that Steve had probably let Tony move him for fear of Tony hurting himself.

"There should be candles and Sade and...and I don't even know, but it should be more than this!"

"What more do you need, Tony?"

"I need you to feel good about this. I need to make sure you're not going to have anything to regret!" Tony made a sound of protest as Steve pulled him down, slotting their lips together again. "Steven Grant Rogers, listen up and stop _doing_ that!"

"Doing what?"

"Trying to distract me with that mouth. It's not going to work: I won't let it work; you're listening to me whether you like it or not!" Steve smirked at that, leaning down to ghost his lips over Tony's skin, not quite a touch. "You and I are new to me, Steve. And we're new to you, too. I just...I think we need to make this special."

"More special than slow dancing on my birthday, and catching me when I was being flung through the air, and-"

"And I'm talking about you and I doing something that will take something from you that you can't _get_ back."

"Tony, I want you. Do you not want me?"

"I definitely want you, that's not even a question-"

"Then why are you being difficult?"

"Because! You're...you, and I'm just...I'm not-"

"I swear to god, if you say "worthy"; if you so much as think it, or any variant, I'm going to spend the next week making you pay."

Tony's eyes widened comically, and Steve flipped them easily, Tony's head cradled in Steve's hand against the pillows. "Steve-"

"Tony." Tony snorted into helpless laughter at Steve's lecherous tone, over-the-top and purposefully ridiculous. Steve started kissing at Tony's neck, which was new territory for them.

"I can't run away. This totally isn't fair." Tony grunted, semi-cut off by a small groan of pleasure as Steve nipped lightly at his skin.

"Why would you want to run away?" Steve asked slowly, tracing his tongue along the edge of Tony's collarbone. He had no idea what he was doing, but he knew he liked it, and that he wanted more.

"Because...I want to give you good memories of this…" Tony panted out, biting his lower lip.

"Then stop telling me you want to give me more and give me what you have to offer right now." Punctuating the last two words with kisses to the expanse of skin just under Tony's ear, Steve drew his lips back to Tony's, kissing solidly.

"I-I'll make you a deal…" Tony gasped out, shuddering, and Steve's arm came up to rest next to Tony's head, keeping himself off Tony's chest again. "T-Tomorrow, we'll do this. I'll set everything up, and we'll do this. Tonight, we...we make out and fall asleep like normal?"

Steve growled a little. "Why don't we just play it by ear?"

Steve kept kissing his skin, touching him gently and exploringly, and Tony was honestly terrified. Every last cell was screaming for more of this, but he knew that getting more was something he'd never planned on; never figured out and analyzed. He hadn't realized how stupid he'd been until Steve started sucking on his earlobe, drawing out a pathetic whimper. This was his idol; his childhood hero; and he had this sinking feeling that he was about to royally fuck up absolutely everything.

Tony, contrary to popular belief, wasn't sex-crazed to the point of his IQ going out the window. He knew exactly what the ramifications of the morning after would be for every one-night-stand he had. But Steve wasn't a one-night-stand. He was a tear-your-clothes-off-and-burn-them kind of love, and Tony really didn't know what would come after giving into that temptation. He didn't know how to handle himself. There was _nothing_ in the Tony Stark playbook for this one.

"Relax, Tony."

"Having a panic attack."

This got Steve to stop, "Why?"

"Because...I haven't really done this before. I've had sex, yes, but this...this isn't sex."

"Tony, I honestly never took you to be such a romantic." Steve snorted, resting his head down against Tony's shoulder, "If you really want me to stop right now, I'll stop. We can wait."

Tony looked torn, but grateful, and he kissed the tip of Steve's nose. "Thank you." Steve settled down against Tony's chest, his head cradled against Tony's shoulder, "I promise, soon, though."

"Alright, I love you."

"I love you, too." The ease with which he said those words amazed him. But most everything about his and Steve's relationship amazed him. "I love you so much."

Steve hugged him closer, "Your heart always skips beats when you tell me you love me."

Tony pulled Steve into a kiss, nuzzling them close together, sliding the blankets back over them. "Can you really blame me?"

"No." Steve smiled, cradling Tony's cheek in his palm and kissing him again, humming in appreciation.

"Go to sleep, little superhero. You'll need your rest."

"That sounds promising."

Tony snorted, shaking his head, "Somehow I get the feeling that extremely athletic sex is just what the doctor ordered."

Steve hushed him, his eyelashes fluttering down against his cheekbones as he went still and his breathing evened out. Tony watched him slip off entirely, holding him safe and warm, taking comfort in the fact that Steve loved him like he did. Tony couldn't believe it. Not any of it. As far as he was concerned, Steve was the most precious person this world had to offer; how the hell did he end up entrusted with loving him? How was he supposed to take care of him when Tony was so much more...breakable than Steve was? It felt insurmountable to think that Steve had been trying to get in Tony's pants. Steve was the most innocent and righteous person he knew; that Steve was offering himself up like that was unthinkable; inconceivable. And_ Tony had said no_. That was even more shocking.

Steve didn't stir as Tony kept his hold on him into the early hours of the morning, sleep evading the inventor. It was surprising when Steve spoke into the darkness, his hand against Tony's chest, "I love you, Tony. You mean the world to me. I never should have said those things when we first met. The truth of it is, I don't think there's anyone out there that means as much to the world as you do; no one else that means as much to me as you do. I'll love you for as long as I breathe, and I need you to trust me that I won't be shaken from ever loving you like it would kill me to lose you."

Tony felt tight-throated, his eyes stinging. Steve's hold on him tightened gently, and Tony gasped a breath, tears falling down his temples as he laid there in Steve's arms, feeling the huge expanse of everything between them that stole away everything that Tony Stark had ever considered himself to be, burning away everything that came before. "I trust you, Steve. I trust you with my life and my heart."

Steve turned his head, pressing his lips to Tony's chest, over his heart, "I won't lead you astray."

* * *

**We're at the calm before the storm I'm afraid to say. **

**Thanks for all the comments, as always, I wouldn't've gotten this far without the feedback, and I hope the story keeps delivering for you guys 3  
**


	6. Chapter 6

There was a breathless kind of feeling that Tony had. Distant, distracted...cut off. Steve was avoiding his eyes, and Tony felt it in his bones, the betrayal. That that promise to love him had had a shorter expiration date than he'd expected.

Natasha had pity in her eyes; Bruce had had to excuse himself, and Tony found him, sedated, two hours later; Thor had upturned the dining room table with a roar; Clint looked as if he'd just shattered the archer's world; but worst was Coulson, turning his back on Steve. The fallen idol. The one that none of them could look to as leader anymore. Captain America may have been the head of the proverbial, superhuman snake, but Tony was the heart, as much as he'd never meant to be. He was the soul, and when it came down to it, when Steve's lie was brought out, and Tony was looked in the eyes and lied to, it was to Tony that they ultimately went.

They didn't see it happen, exactly. But they knew when Tony cracked. The shattering glass; the wild shout of fury: all Tony's sanity smashed on the floor of that hidden room behind the closet.

Natasha and Thor picked their friend up off the floor, from the glittering cavern now covered in broken glass and debris. He felt like a child; like he'd been given something beautiful and had ruined it despite everything he'd done not to.

Tony was curled in Bruce's bed while Natasha and Thor cleared his room of the evidence of Steven Rogers. Bruce's eyes flashed a dangerous green as he thrust the cardboard box of Steve's things into the soldier's arms. Steve opened his mouth, and Thor flanked Bruce, arms crossed and jaw set, "SPEAK, CAPTAIN, AND MY GREEN FRIEND WILL LOSE THE CONTROL HE HAS MANAGED. YOU ARE NOT WORTHY OF THE WORDS: LEAVE THIS DWELLING AND NEVER RETURN."

Cast out, Steve felt a dart of pride and agony that they did love Tony like he'd hoped they would. "I'm sorry." He breathed, and Bruce straightened even further.

"You sound just like a Judas."

With one last look at the home he'd stripped himself of, Steve left, hope like a poison in the base of his gut that it all worked out.

It was somewhere in the middle of Stark Tower that the elevator was no longer occupied simply by Steve.

Bracing himself, Steve faced the jade-green eyes of the God of Mischief, and stood tall under the scrutiny; not as an opposition to the God, but as his equal, his ally. "You wrecked your life, mortal. Why would you do such a thing?"

"This isn't my world."

Loki smiled like a predator, "Would you like to return to your world?" Steve's breath caught. This wasn't the offer he'd expected. "It will cost you a favour, but you will return to where you belong."

Steve looked at the reflection of the fallen idol beyond the disenfranchised god, "...Deal."

The word nearly killed him. Loki disappeared like the Cheshire cat, only his twisted smile remaining, and Steve closed his eyes, sending a sincere wish to Tony that he would forgive him for making _that_ the deal he made with the devil. Going off-script could be the death of his love, he knew.

* * *

Tony slipped from Bruce's room, avoiding all eyes until he was back in his own. Slipping into the bed that would never stop smelling like Steve and feeling like the bed they shared, Tony brought Steve's pillow to his chest, hugging it tight and letting the scent carry him away.

He knew something was wrong. More than all of it. He felt like he was dangerously close to actually feeling the part he was meant to portray. "Play me the song, JARVIS." Tony ordered hoarsely, and, for once, the AI didn't try to spare his feelings; didn't try to convince him it was against his best interests to drown in the song that had brought him his Steven Grant Rogers.

Tony settled down, knowing he wouldn't sleep, but hoping that he could shut off.

_The sheets had slipped over Tony's skin, his muscles bringing him closer into Steve's warmth, the both of them covered in a light sheen of sweat, panting and smiling at each other. It'd been worth the wait. Steve had taken his hand, resting their interwoven fingers on his abs, laughing breathlessly as Tony looked down the perfect sculpture that was Steve's body. They'd gotten more than they'd bargained for, so connected that they felt like the same person as Steve rolled onto his side, Tony slipping his arms around Steve securely, to shield him from those nightmares that were growing less and less. "How do you feel?" Tony asked, his lips against Steve's shoulder. _

_"Weird, but good." _

_"Are you in pain?" _

_"Hm?" Steve had been half-asleep already, and Tony almost laughed at the now-ex virgin. "No...no, 'm just sleepy…" _

_"Then sweet dreams, Steve." _

What would he have done if he'd known what they'd have to do for their friends? Would he have held Steve a little closer? Would he have kissed him awake again, and done everything and more than what they'd allowed themselves? Would he have never let the sunlight in?

Tony felt a pang of guilt. It would've cost them all, probably in lives, but he would have done all of that.  
And he would have talked Steve out of the only plan that had a chance at saving them.

* * *

Steve swallowed, his throat feeling like he was swallowing broken glass. Loki had told him that he would have to test him, but this was just...malicious.

And it was to prove Steve himself could be malicious, too.

The strawberry-blond woman turned her head, but not fast enough to see the shield headed for her skull; and certainly not fast enough to dodge it. She fell, and Steve caught his shield, watching her hair turn slowly blood-red.

"Good work, Captain." Loki hissed behind him, and Steve's skin crawled.

"It's not difficult to break a heart, and Tony's is the heart of the Avengers. With him down, the others won't rally as they should."

"Very clever," Loki told him approvingly, and Steve had to look away before Loki could reach through his eyes and into his mind to hear his next thought,_ 'Of course it is: Tony came up with this plan, after all.'_ "But I still require you to kill the _real_ Pepper Potts. You want me to believe you'll give me what I want to get what you want? You'll have to wait until this whole world has fallen down around you before I'll remake it to what you want it to be."

It went against everything Steve was, but he had to do it.

Steve's hand was shaking as he lined up the shot: Pepper making it too easy, worried about the SHIELD agent-double that had been assigned to protect her; to fool Loki. A bullet through Pepper Potts's head: no one would know it was even him but Tony.

...Tony would know. Tony would be crushed. Steve couldn't do this. He really couldn't.

But Captain America could.

_It's all a part of the plan. _

* * *

__**Once again, thanks to everyone for the reviews. I'm sorry that this is a shorty, but it's acting as an introduction to what's coming, so I hope no one minds too much.  
**

**Please bear with me, guys. I will tell you now that it'll get really bad, but I also promise that it won't end bad. If you can stick with me, I'd appreciate it.  
**

**Anywho, considering this was meant to be a oneshot, I'm shocked to see how it's ended up, but kinda happy, too. Yay for the random plot generator that is my brain.  
**


	7. Chapter 7

Bruce and Natasha had been at the hospital with Tony for what felt like lifetimes. Pepper was in a coma; and, though Tony knew it'd be a permanent coma if she was lucky, he still refused to leave his old friend's side.

Natasha had parked down an alley from the hospital, and Bruce had come in Tony's car, but both needed to go home, and to see about bringing some of Tony's home to him while he camped out there.

Neither of them really expected what came next, but neither of them expected nothing to happen.

Cap was standing in his uniform at the mouth of the alley, his shield glinting in the diffuse light. "Steve, no. Please, no…" Bruce breathed, seeing the blood on the rim of the shield, "Tell me you're not the one that killed that agent today…"

Natasha stepped in front of Bruce, always armed and dangerous, "You betrayed us." She growled, her crimson waves flopped over into her eyes, "You're breaking Tony, you selfish bastard. You two...You made me believe that maybe love was real and it could really make you stronger."

"Power makes you stronger, Natasha, but you already know that." Cap said coolly, sickeningly, oil-and-honey in his tone.

"You've killed Pepper; you've turned your back on us!" Natasha hissed, as if the anger were turning her into something almost inhuman. Behind her, Bruce felt it begin to tug at him. "You could've come back to us, Cap! Tony could have forgiven you!"

"I'm not the one that should seek atonement!" Cap bellowed, taking a step towards them.

Hot, acidic tears that hadn't fallen since she'd been orphaned and abandoned and alone, left to become something other than what she was meant to be as a six-year-old, fell down her cheeks, made her breathing difficult. "We were a family!"

"Ah, poor little orphan girl." Cap sneered, and Bruce broke.

The Hulk roared down the alleyway, dropping Natasha aside and barrelling down towards Cap.

Natasha opened her mouth to scream at Hulk to stop, but it was too late. The Hulk's mighty fist closed around vapor that should have been Cap's waist, and the magic took hold of him. Natasha pushed herself to her feet, limp and struggling, sniffling and helpless. The real Captain America appeared from the shadows as if they'd become a part of him. "You...you should've...come home…"

Steve's brilliantly blue eyes were the cold, lifeless eyes of the perfect soldier. Natasha got in three half-hearted blows before Cap had reached for her neck in a grip that snapped her spine in his hand.

Cap turned his eyes to watch his more human counterpart's friend get zapped and run through, chained and taken away by the Trickster's magic, left for dead somewhere between galaxies, where no one would ever even know he'd existed. Cap almost felt bad he couldn't give Tony a body to bury; Steve Rogers screamed somewhere behind the strangle vines that had started to block him off in his mind.

* * *

Tony sighed, closing his aching eyes in his aching head and trying to block out the sound of the neon buzz. "I don't know what to do, Pepper. Steve asked me to trust him, and I do, but...I don't know if I should. Pepper, I know that I shouldn't…" Tony was in tears again, like he hadn't done enough of that lately, "it was supposed to save lives, Pepper, I swear it was. He and I...we were meant to save the world together, I could feel it...How did this even happen?" Tony looked at the pale, waif-like woman who'd saved his ass in so many ways, "Yeah...yeah, I know how it happened. I happened. I ruined him. I ruin everything. I know." Tony turned his head, looking briefly out at the skyline he'd seen a thousand times before. "I ruined you. I ruined Steve...everything I love gets taken from me, but I think it's more like everything I love leaves before I can taint it any further. God, what good am I?" Tony's fingers fit around the edges of the arc reactor, his eyes distant.

Tony let out a sniff, dashing the tears from his eyes as he came to the sound of his phone going off madly from his pocket.

"_Tony, get down here. There's a black hole opened up about a block from where you are._"

"I'm on my way."

Seeing Natasha's body was bad enough: seeing the Hulk-sized hole in time-space made Tony want to scream in agony.

Thor and Tony sealed the rift shut quickly, but half the alley was simply gone. "THIS...THIS WAS MY BROTHER'S DOING." Thor announced, but Tony shook his head, walking to carefully pick up Black Widow from where she'd been dropped in a heap to the ground.

"No; this is Captain America's doing, too."

Never had Tony been more intimidated by the Norse god, but Thor's wrath was directed at Steve for having betrayed him; for having betrayed, now, all of them. Thunder crashed down on them, and Tony turned his face up to the rain, trying to wash away the actual hurt in his heart.

* * *

"It was meant to be a ruse. Steve was meant to break my heart and leave us all, outcasting himself like Loki did, trying to get in good with him so that he could figure out a way to permanently take him down. We couldn't talk about it with anyone; we knew that Loki would be watching as much as he could, and, honestly, your performances couldn't be faked. We all loved Cap too much to put ourselves behind casting him out-"

"Then how did you?" Clint demanded, harsh and furiously angry.

"Because I wasn't expected to, not fully. It wouldn't matter how much he hurt me, I'd forgive him for it. I knew I would the moment I woke up broken in that hospital bed and the only thing I could think was 'thank god it was me and not him'. I knew what Loki would be playing at; I figured it out that he'd be trying to kill us with each other. If something had happened to Cap, I would have been a complete waste; wrecked beyond repair. I would've been unbelievably easy to take out, or he simply would've let me do it myself."

Clint, Coulson, and Thor were all silent for a moment, and then every muscle in Thor's body locked down, "**JANE**!"

The remaining three Avengers and their handler ran out of the safe-room Thor had locked down for them to talk privately in, and left it blaringly open for Loki to slip into.

The demi-god smirked to himself, but the sounds of a real fight stopped him short.

Cap was taking out Clint, heedless of Coulson shooting at him.

Tony Stark stood there, frozen, watching as some monster he refused to believe was Steve murder their friends, helpless to do anything about it. Cap's eyes met Tony's, and, as if sensing that Cap was going to make Tony snap once and for all, Thor wound up and swung, his hammer carrying Cap through the balcony.

Coulson was on his knees, trying to stop the bleeding from Clint's chest, and Tony fell the ground, limp and catatonic.

_What had he done?_

"YOUR PLAN WAS A WORTHY ONE, MAN OF IRON, BUT MY BROTHER IS TOO SNAKELIKE AND CORRUPTIVE. EVEN STEVEN COULD NOT RESIST HIS TEMPTATIONS."

"Thor, Tony's not...with us...right now." Coulson said heavily, trying to rub blood off his hands that wasn't even there anymore.

Coulson's whole body was shaking. He didn't blame Tony exactly, but the wrongness of this entire situation was pressing on his chest and taking away his option to breathe. "SON OF COUL, YOU APPEAR UNWELL."

Phil took a shaky step backwards, and knew what was happening to him. Coulson reached for his heart, groaning. Coulson stumbled and fell, Thor reaching for him, but too late. He was having a heart attack, and he knew that he wouldn't live through this one. Not with the sting in the centre of a larger ache where Steve had punched him.

Coulson died staring past the catatonic face of Tony Stark, eyes resting on the archer that had been enough to break his heart.

Thor turned to Tony with enraged tears in his eyes. His brother had done enough. Too much. He'd torn apart Thor's family, and he'd torn apart the family Thor had made himself on Earth. "MY BROTHER WILL PAY FOR THE CRIMES HE HAS COMMITTED AGAINST US. HE HAS MADE THE GOOD CAPTAIN A FOE, AND HE HAS CAUSED HEARTBREAK AND DEATH AMONGST US. I SWEAR TO YOU, MAN OF IRON, YOUR LOVER WILL BE AVENGED. WE ALL SHALL BE."

Thor left the genius trapped in his own mind, two dead bodies of their friends to keep him company as he drove himself over the edge and into a hopeless oblivion.

_What had he done?_

* * *

"How does it feel to kill the people who were meant to love you?" Loki hissed, smiling at Cap as they watched Tony lose his mind.

"Natasha's death left them vulnerable; Bruce's left them almost-defenseless; Clint and Coulson were both almost mercy killings, they weren't a threat with the others gone. But it's left Tony where we wanted him."

"And my brother enraged enough to be almost too easy to defeat. You played your part well, Captain, but our arrangement has not been completed yet. First, you take down my brother; then you put the Iron Man out of his misery. Then I shall rebuild this world."

"Your magic...it will give me the world I want?"

"You kill my brother, and my magic will give you everything you want."

"And how am I to kill a god?"

Loki smiled, leading Cap into the shadows, whipping back a shroud from the dias, "With a weapon made to kill gods."

* * *

**I had to get this out because I was getting a lot of confusion: I hope this clears some of it up. **

**Also, I hope none of you hate me.  
**

**Thor and Tony's bits may be drawn out into individual chapters, or they may not be, I haven't decided yet.  
**


	8. Chapter 8

It was too easy, really.

Thor wasn't a thinker; he wasn't a planner; he was simply a hand behind a hammer.

He was muscle, nothing more.

At first, Loki had thought that was what Steve was. Simply the muscle. But Steve Rogers was more than the muscles; it was his alter-ego, the righteous and worthy Captain America that was simply the muscles. Steve was the righteous man; the ever-polite, kind man; he was the brains, he was the heart. He was the man that Loki had put behind a glass cage in his head.

Every dead Avenger thus far had been more of a test to see how under his control the Captain really was.

But this would be the fun part. Seeing the very last of Steve Rogers die would come with the deaths of Thor and Tony.

"BROTHER, WHY HAS IT COME TO THIS?"

"I was never your brother. And it was _always_ meant to come to this."

The fight began, and Loki, for the first time in a long time, felt like he was at ease. His brother was about to die, and he felt at peace.

"YOU TOOK SOMETHING YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO. STEVE SHOULD HAVE BEEN WITH THE MAN OF IRON. THEY BELONG TOGETHER."

"Are you so sure, brother? The Captain made a deal with me: he would be my willing weapon in exchange for returning to _where he belongs_." Loki swept Mjolnir out of Thor's hands, one blow flattening his brother back against the wall. "Why would he kill the person he belongs with?"

Thor was taken aback, his rage confused and sputtering; his will turning in on itself with the thought that Steve could commit such an atrocity.

The truth of it was, Loki didn't care that the only person that understood him was the man raising the god-killer behind his brother's back; it didn't matter that Cap was a creation that Loki had poured himself into.

True, the rage he felt might be more understandable from the eyes of Dr. Banner; perhaps even Tony himself, the misunderstood and downtrodden mad that he was, but it didn't matter. They were not nearly as...entertaining as Captain Steve Rogers.

Captain Rogers, the epitome of goodness and strength in the ranks of those worthless "super" humans, was the most challenging man to comprehend. Tony was made up of genius and hurt: he'd been neglected and abused, bullied and tortured until he'd just shut off; Tony was a man who'd remade himself-only, unlike Loki, he'd made himself into someone to be admired rather than destroyed. That a man of pure goodness could love someone like Tony was a mystery to him. More of a mystery was how a man like Steve could exist at all. How could a man so good and right stand to live with such flawed specimens of life?

Loki knew his obsession with the corruption of the pure and good Steve Rogers bordered on the suicidal. He knew Steve was good and pure and really couldn't be trusted. But a man touched by the pain and loss and death that Steve had been touched with was a man divided. And that division was the only weakness Loki needed to completely sever Steve Rogers from the darkness in his heart that came from the abandonment and the blood.

Thor stopped short on his swing, his features twisting as he felt the pain of the blade running him through. Loki's only regret was that he couldn't wield that blade himself without his powers stripped. It almost would have been worth it.

"WHAT DID I DO TO YOU, BROTHER?"

"I was never your brother! I was one of your playthings. Entertaining and useless. You never saw me as anything different!"

A tear coursed down Thor's cheek, on his knees and bleeding out before Loki's eyes, "YOU...WERE MY BROTHER."

Loki looked up to the man he would make a god if given the chance. He wondered if Cap would be for him what Steve would have been for the Avengers; for Tony. He wondered if he'd at last found his equal, his companion.

* * *

_Trapped in his own mind, Steve screamed and fought, weaker every time those horrible moments of his past replayed. _

_He was losing it all. _

_He'd ruined it all. _

_If there was anything he'd learned that could keep him standing, it was pain. Steve knew pain; had felt agony for so long that he almost had to wonder if he wasn't slowly going numb from it. _

_But it wasn't enough. The pain just made the darkness more powerful, and Steve was slipping further away from the surface until he wouldn't even be a memory anymore. _

_The worst were the memories of the fight that had brought that darkness out. _

_It'd had to be a real fight between him and Tony. A real hurt he had to inflict on his lover. He'd even tried to negate the pain; to express the lie before he'd begun letting it pour from his mouth like blood or bile. _

_Tony hadn't let it stand. _

_...Tony had kissed him quiet, told him that he knew. He knew it all. He'd always know Steve's heart; Steve's head. _

_Tony had kissed him quiet. Tony had held him. Had touched him. He'd lost himself in Tony's smile and his body and his voice, calming and steadying like nothing Steve had really experienced before. _

_Tony had marked him, so fleetingly, but it had been there. On his collar, on his hip. He'd been Tony's. A whispered 'always' against his pelvis when he'd said those words. _

_There was so much madness in that thought. So much of the hurt Steve had dealt them both just by denying the anger that fuelled him and filled him at all he'd seen. _

_He'd been Tony's. Tony had been his. _

_...He still was. Steve was still Tony's, and Tony would always be Steve's. _

_With that thought; that piece of madness, and the knowledge that Tony wouldn't give up on him, Steve fought anew. _

_It was difficult and Steve felt fragile, like pushing any further would break what little of Steve Rogers there was left. _

_He couldn't and shouldn't be loved. He wasn't capable of loving-_

_The memory of Tony's broken hand on his arm, caressing his cheek; even half-dead and hurt because of Steve, Tony's love called through anything and everything else. Tony loved him. _

_**"I trust you…"**__ Tony's voice came from his aching heart, a dart of light and hope in his head, smashing at the cage that held him. __**"I love you…"**__ Steve seethed, and Steve let everything in him break and rebuild. He wasn't a soldier; Tony was right about that. They weren't soldiers. They were warriors; they were lovers; they were Avengers. And Steve Rogers would be damned if anyone dared to lock him in the ice again. _

_Tony had told him that Steve was his sanity when he'd nearly lost it. It was only right that the converse would be true, and Steve knew Tony well enough to know that Tony would go out fighting for him._

* * *

Tony didn't move when Steve knelt down in front of him. He was lost somewhere, somewhere Steve almost thought he wouldn't be able to get to. "Tony?"

Loki had sent him to kill Tony. The genius may have been rendered all-but useless with every death that tore and shredded at him, but there was always a chance, with Tony, that he'd overcome even the insurmountable odds.

"Tony, please, come back to me. I'm so sorry, Tony. Just, please, be here…"

Steve took Tony's cheek into his hand, the other on Tony's folded arms. Leaning forwards slowly, Steve pressed his lips to Tony's softly, a kiss to end the curse, but all it brought him was Tony's sharp, furious eyes; Tony's whole body trembling under his touch, and tears coursing from Tony's eyes.

For a moment that almost crushed Steve Rogers, he thought Tony wouldn't forgive him.

"_What have I done to you_?" Tony rattled out, and Steve was in shock; it was the only explanation. Clint's gun was in Tony's hand, then in his mouth, and he'd pulled the trigger before Steve could do more than scream and fall to his knees once more.

"No...No, no, no, no…Tony, no. _**NO**_!" The scream was broken-beyond broken. It was the most pain Steve had ever, ever felt. It wasn't human anymore. He wasn't human anymore. He was a wounded animal, just like Loki had made him to be. Only instead of his mark being his family, it was god now. Steve's grip on the hilt of a god-killing sword tightened, his body almost sick with his hatred.

Loki would pay.

"For your service, Steven; I am a man of my word. I will give you the world in which you belong."

* * *

**Alright, so. Thank you for all your wonderful (and sometimes angered) reviews. **

**This is where the storm ends, and things start to grow and sunshine starts to happen again (in other words, please don't kill me yet).  
**

**Um, just FYI, this is all unbeta'd, so all mistakes and fuck-ups are totally mine, throughout the whole story.  
**


	9. Chapter 9

**WARNING: Nudity and sub-text smut at the end of this chapter. Minor groping, but nothing overly explicit. Don't like it, sorry, but I think they deserve to get laid.**

* * *

Tony Stark twitched at his shirt sleeves, his heart pounding in his head as he watched Bruce and Natasha dancing and laughing at each other under the golden glow of the lanterns; Thor and his Jane sitting at one of the many tables dotting the area surrounding the dancefloor; Clint and Coulson laughing together, Clint's arm protectively over Phil's shoulders as the flash bulb of an antique camera went off blindingly. The guest of honour of the event was no where to be seen, and it was making the host a jittery mess.

* * *

Captain America stood before Loki's cage, smirking. "What have you done?" Loki hissed, eyes wide and furious.

"I've come back to the world in which I belong. With you behind bars, and me able to thwart you without a drop of blood spilled." Steve hefted the weapon through the cage, the tip not quite touching under Loki's chin, "You are a man of your word; I am a man of mine. I will destroy this weapon in exchange for...two weeks. Two weeks before you make any moves, and the sword that can kill you will be gone forever. Do we have a deal?"

Loki seethed, but his hands were tied with the light shining in Steve's eyes, "...Deal."

* * *

Tony's breath caught as Steve walked into the apartment in the tuxedo. His hair was slicked back in that 40s way that would make Tony swoon if he'd let it.

Blue eyes skated around the room quickly before falling to Tony, a smile that made Tony's heart beat faster spreading over Steve's face.

Steve had to fight to stop himself from sprinting into Tony's arms; it was the hardest thing he'd had to do yet.

But the closer Tony got, the weaker Steve felt. Steve was a shaking mess by the time he and Tony were within earshot, and he was completely helpless by the time all it would take for them to be touching was Steve's hand on Tony's arm, and his lips crashing down on the billionaire's.

Steve's mouth was swollen and his cheeks flushed when he let Tony go, his heart working so hard in his chest he thought it'd give out, but Tony hadn't kissed him back.

"Th-That was...a surprise…" Tony mumbled, straightening his jacket and his cuffs with a propriety that just simply wasn't Tony Stark.

"I'm sorry...I shouldn't have done that…" Steve managed, voice strained and gruff. Steve's heart broke all over again: What if Tony remembered? What if they all did? God, the things he'd done, and-

Tony's hand was on his lower back, and for a smaller guy he was still strong enough to take Steve's knees out from under him, but that mostly because Tony was kissing him stupid and breathless, nipping his lower lip gently and looking up at him with smouldering eyes, "Rogers, you're acting like you haven't been here in ages. Are you alright?"

Steve didn't know how to answer that, but he knew he needed Tony to be kissing him and holding him and there was no replacing the safety he'd feel in Tony's bed. "I-I'm fine. I just...I need you to help me with something, Tony. And I need...I need to confess something. To you. I need you to listen to me."

Tony hushed him gently, honestly worried, and he readily accepted Steve yanking him into his arms, rubbing his hand through Steve's hair, "Where do you need to go for this?" Steve's fingers slipped between his, and Tony was led out of the party, Bruce and Natasha watching worriedly; Coulson almost moving to go with them.

Tony was confused as Steve led him into Tony's room, asking JARVIS to lock the door behind them.

"Steve, you're kind of scaring me now. I-" Steve's tongue shut him up, and Tony felt helpless in Steve's arms, taken by surprise yet again, but this time by the brazenness of it, and how much it felt like he was coming home.

Steve took Tony's hands, sitting them down on Tony's bed, and that'd have to do, because Tony would be calling for Bruce to come make sure he was okay if he took this much farther just yet. "I have so much to answer for, Tony…I don't even...My head hurts just trying to figure out what's happened, but I have to tell you everything. Even the things you think you know. I have to stop what's happened from ever happening at all."

* * *

A week had passed before Loki saw the soldier again, flanked by the genius and the doctor, all carrying a machine. "What is this?" Loki hissed.

Steve deposited what he was carrying on the ground in front of him, smiling winningly. The hilt in the belt of the supersoldier made Loki flinch away, untrusting. Steve drew the hilt-and that's all it was. A hilt.

"You've destroyed the weapon. You've lost your leverage-"

"Actually, that's where Bruce and I come in. See, Steve probably couldn't've destroyed it if he'd wanted to without us. It's just that durable."

"So we melted it down, and made something with it. I think you'll quite like this, honestly. It's right up your sadistic little alley." Bruce and Tony set down their cargo as well, and Tony pulled out a remote, flicking it into operation. A force field sprang up around Loki's cage, the god flinching back away from it. "You see, we've designed this little bugger to...well, zap you, for lack of a better term."

"In the immortal words of our dear Agent Coulson: If you attempt to leave, or play any games, we will taze you and watch Super Nanny while you drool into the carpet." Tony smirked, cheeky bugger that he was.

"Have a nice incarceration." Steve said magnanimously, smiling like an angel and lazily saluting.

"You'll never leave behind that darkness, Captain-"

"He doesn't need to, Loki. He's got a flashlight." Tony came to stand beside Steve, tapping his fingers against the arc reactor and looking up at the blond with an apology in his eyes.

After hearing everything that had happened to Steve; everything that had gone on, in the war against Loki and WWII, Tony had all but disappeared from Steve's side, hiding out in his lab to create Loki's cage. Honestly, Steve hadn't known what else to expect. It didn't stop him from being sick every night Tony failed to even say hello to him, let alone refusing to say goodbye. Bruce had told him it was a defense mechanism; Thor had assured him Tony would love him like he always had; Jane told him that Tony needed time; Coulson that, if it came down to it, he'd taze Tony and let Steve sit on him until the supposed-genius sorted everything out. Clint and Natasha tried to stay out of it, but Steve got the feeling that Clint was the reason Tony had finished sooner than intended: SHIELD had a gun which would make the target unbearably itchy. Clint had only had to use it on Tony once, but the motivation stayed.

Returning to Earth, Steve moved slowly, trying not to get hopeful when Tony took his hand, "So...if you love me, and I love you, and you've seen some alternate future in which things went wonky because of one of my stup-"

Steve kissed him, "It was my fault. My doing. I was vulnerable. I still am-"

"No one is perfect, Capcicle. We all have our Achilles heel: what I want to know is, even with Loki mindfucking you, why on earth would you blame yourself for anything that happened?"

Steve licked his lips, ducking his head. He and Tony sat down, and Steve was rather indescribably happy how close they were on that couch. "Before...you pulled the trigger…" Already, Steve was choking up, "you...asked me what you'd-what you'd done. To me. Like it was your fault I'd been so damn weak…" Steve swallowed around broken glass in his throat, tears building in his eyes, "It wasn't you, Tony. It was never you that made me weak. You made me vulnerable and impatient and frustrated with myself to the point of tears, Tony, but you _never_ made me weak. If it hadn't been for you, I would've been lost completely to Loki's...tricks. I would have given up. You gave me something worth fighting for, and it wasn't because I'm a soldier or a good man or anything you claim I am: it was because I was in love with you...because I still am in love with you, and probably always will be. Truth is, Tony; it was my fault. You embrace your demons, you put a leash on them no matter how hard they bite, and you use them to be...for lack of a better word, beautiful. But I...My demons are stronger than I am. And they know it."

Tony's fingers on his chin were barely there, gentle but insistent, and Steve would let Tony take or have or do whatever he wanted, always. "Steve...the things you told me. About the war. You've never…you've never told anyone else, have you?"

Steve shook his head silently, still scared to meet Tony's eyes.

"Steve, you already know you were my sanity. I've spent the last week trying to figure out how I could do this without...without ruining you-I know, I know. You keep saying it wasn't me, but part of it-"

Steve's hand was threaded through his hair, his lips capturing Tony's, before the billionaire would really even know he was about to be kissed.

"Part of it was me, Steve. Part of it was my doing and-mmph." Tony opened his mouth for Steve's tongue, his arm threading around Steve's back, his body pressing forwards into the attention instinctually.

Steve broke from his lips softly, looking up at Tony with a shining innocence and goodness that made Tony's heart squeeze, "Stop it, Tony. Stop blaming yourself for what happened with Pepper, stop blaming yourself for something that will never happen-"

Tony's eyes lit up briefly, and he smirked as Steve replayed his words in his head, taking Steve's arms from around his neck and laying Steve down against the couch. "Stop blaming yourself for something that will never happen, Steven…" Tony breathed, kissing Steve before he could reply.

It was long hours of heat and kissing before Steve or Tony were willing to stop long enough to speak again. Steve's suit was thrown haphazardly over the other side of the couch, his white undershirt rumpled with one of Tony's hands between his shoulder blades, both of them panting and swollen in the lip, "See, you're used to this. My head's spinning." Steve snorted at Tony's words, shaking his head as he kissed Tony's throat, Tony's other hand in his hair.

"So it took you a week to come up with a way into tricking me into admitting that it wasn't my fault?"

"No, it took me about fifteen minutes. I just...You told me I said I love you. Which I do, don't get me wrong, it's just the action of me speaking the words that makes me wonder how you managed to get under my skin like that. I don't trust anyone, least of all myself, but having you...that would have been a whole new world for me. Everything would've been different."

Steve nodded once, "Everything was."

Tony watched Steve lower his lips to the arc reactor glowing in Tony's chest, laying a kiss there. "I want what you had, Steve. I want what we had."

Steve smiled at him, rising up to kiss his lips. "I don't…" Steve whispered against Tony's lips, smiling, "I want us to have better than what we had."

* * *

"So, lemme get this straight. Loki's lonely." Tony said, to Steve's nod, "He wants someone who appreciates him, 'cause he's a geek in a realm full of jocks." Steve nodded again, glancing up at Thor over Tony's shoulder even as his boyfriend grinned conspiratorily at him, "So he hatches an evil plan to take over Earth because we'd appreciate how smart he was." Steve nodded one last time, laughing as Tony yanked him into his lap, wrapping his arms around Steve's waist despite how much bigger than Tony he was. "He should maybe spend some time in a human high school." Tony theorized idly, absently scratching Steve's back in a half-scratch, half-rub that had Steve purring like a cat.

Thor blundered by them as Steve let himself go lax under Tony's attentions, one blue eye slipping open to watch the god go. Steve broke into a slow smile, leaning back so that he was using Tony's chest as a back-rest, "Think he took the hint?"

Jane sidled up to them, trying very hard not to smile, "You just tricked my boyfriend into figuring out what was wrong with his brother, didn't you?"

"Sorry." Tony told her, not sorry in the least, "We figured it'd be best if he was led to the information rather than just being told what he needs to know."

Jane nodded, silent for a long, long moment, "Good job, guys. Thanks." Steve smiled sleepily at her, his eyes more than half-closed as he lounged on Tony's lap.

"Sorry, Jane, but I think our sleepless leader needs his naptime." Tony smiled, shifting Steve slightly and grabbing a blanket.

"You make me sound like a kid playing Captain America with a tea towel cape…"

"Hey, I was that kid, don't knock it 'til you try it!" Tony poked Steve in the abs and winced, making Steve laugh.

Steve began to disentangle himself, readying to stand, "We're going to bed."

"_You're_ the one that's tired." Tony protested, folding his arms over his chest.

Steve raised an eyebrow at him, a challenge to actually fight him on this, and Tony shook his head, grabbing Steve's offered hand and letting the supersoldier heave him upright. Smiling, they walked together to Tony's bedroom, Steve slipping in first, comfortable with Tony in ways that astounded him still. Steve unbuttoned his shirt, toeing out of his sneakers and shimmying from his jeans, looking up when Tony was in his space, his hand hovering over Steve's skin as if scared to dispel the mirage with a touch.

But Steve was kissing Tony, full and hot, and Tony's hands were on his skin then, just for something to hold onto. Steve broke the first with smaller kisses, resting their foreheads together.

"I'm gonna love you…" Steve didn't have to finish, Tony kissing him again. "I wouldn't need a second chance…"

Tony pulled away from another kiss, panting, "Steve, you're-" Steve didn't want to hear it, Tony could read that much from one look. "Steve, no. I skipped over all the things that got us here, remember? Give me...give me a moment." Steve stifled a shiver as Tony's hands drifted over his skin, his heart swelling in his chest. Tony had wonder in his eyes as he kissed Steve again, "You owe me a dance, Rogers." Tony told him softly, kissing him firmly and then pulling away.

"JARVIS, something slow, please." Steve requested quietly, and light piano filtered down to them, the same singer of the song they would've danced to starting softly as Steve reached for Tony. Steve was in his boxer-briefs, and Tony was fully clothed, but it didn't feel to Steve like he was laid vulnerable, or like it was unfair. Tony held him close, resting his head against Steve's shoulder as they swayed, and it felt like he'd finally gotten back to where he should've been. "I would have given this up to save your life, but, God, Tony, I am so damn glad I don't have to."

"We've lost enough in this war, Steve. We've given enough. It's wrong to think that we've earned this; it's wrong to take it for granted; but I feel in my heart that I was meant to love you, that maybe this is the light at the end of a very long and dark tunnel. You were my sanity, my redemption...what makes us perfect is that I'm yours, too."

Steve smiled at him then, leaning forwards to lean their foreheads together. Tony slipped his fingers between Steve's, his hand brushing over Steve's back as they held each other and swayed. "I'm ready for this, Tony." Steve whispered against Tony's skin, turning his head to kiss Tony lovingly.

"Does this count as me taking your virginity again?" Tony asked, laughing, "I get to be the guy to take Captain America's virtue-_twice_!"

"Sure." Steve murmured indulgently, smiling sweetly.

"JARVIS, give us firelight." The room glowed and flickered as if Tony did have a fireplace in there, and Steve laughed right up until Tony was kissing him, pressing forwards until he'd fallen back into bed, Tony slotting between his legs like he fit. Tony sat up a little to tear his own clothes off, and Steve almost protested, only happy with Tony's skin against his, "_This_ I regret not remembering." Steve smiled, lifting his hips to help Tony dispose of his boxer-briefs, "Tell me about it."

Steve moaned softly as Tony nipped a path from just under his ear to his shoulder, his tongue running halfway back over the bites until he was attaching his mouth to Steve's neck, sucking hard. "Y-You...you marked me...on my collar, my hip…"

Tony rumbled in approval, moving his mouth to Steve's torso, looking like a beggar faced with a feast.

"You...You s-stopped, every time I tried t-to make you go-uh!-faster." Steve looked debauched now, and Tony's white teeth flashed a cocky grin against his nipple. When Steve cut off into panting moans, Tony froze, his mouth infuriating millimeters from Steve's stomach.

"You're not talking, I'm not kissing." Tony told him firmly.

Steve groaned, sighing, "Y-You made a crack about how I started out short and then the serum enhanced everything on top of that…"

Tony chuckled darkly, the sound skittering up Steve's spine as Tony licked the blade of his hip, "And how did you feel about that, Steven?"

"Y-You were...already w-working me open...I-I...still can't bring myself to care."

"Hm…" Tony hummed, in the way Steve would have if faced with any one of the insane calculations that Tony could just flit through. "I took it slow, didn't I?"

"_Hours_." Steve gasped out, legs open indecently. "I was a shuddering mess...a-and you just made me go higher…" Steve whimpered, hands skating over Tony's skin as the billionaire rose back up to kiss his mouth.

"So, what do you want me to do to you?" Tony asked teasingly, his hand snaking down as his mouth toyed with Steve's ear. Steve bucked just a little, arching up into the attention.

"Tony!"

"You'd kill me if I stopped and made you talk right now, would-WHOA!"

Tony was pitched over, flying onto the floor on the other side of the bed; Steve was taking control; and Tony hadn't fallen off his bed quite so safely since shag carpets and all their glorious padding went out of style.

* * *

**Okay, so: I know that this isn't really smut, but it's as good as it's gonna get for now. **

**Already, my lovely little muse has given me an idea for a sequel, so watch out for that (currently considering the title "Sky High"...Yeah, probably gonna be the title. Just 'cause I'm a giant loser.), and the sequel will not and probably could never be quite so sob-inducing. I hated myself while I was writing most of this, so I can only imagine how you guys felt. Anywho, it looks like it'll be a fun piece instead of being...well, agonizing.  
**

**I got a question about how I write Thor, and I am actually appalled at myself for not having mentioned this sooner: My Thor is referencing a Tumblr called "Avengers Shouldn't Text", which is why he has a prediliction for Adele and speaks in all capital letters. It's entirely possible that I fucked up Thor's way of speaking, and I'm sorry for that, but to my defense, I've been kind of rushing myself to update before anyone kills me.  
**

**Thank you all for sticking around, I hope you guys enjoyed this and will enjoy Sky High when it comes about.  
**

**TTFN, lovelies.  
**


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